Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Derby World Wargames Show Report

We had a good weekend at the Derby World Wargames show. There was a lot of interest in the Reaper Bones miniatures (we only got our stock of these a week before the show) and we sold out of most of the dragons and other large monster figures we had. We also sold a decent amount of hex and grid pads. Some of the other traders said that attendance (and sales) were down on the previous year as the date of the show was pulled forward a week. I didn't get much of a chance to look at the rest of the show but that's just as well as I could easily have spent most of our taking on miniatures and scenery.

Our Stand

Decent sized show with 70 trade stands

One of the many impressive display games

A project for my next show a display case with battery powered LED lighting

5 comments:

Looking at what you've got there I think I would have bought most of it, and probably pulled off a tea-party table-cloth trick when you weren't looking, as those Celtic-pattern table cloths add a great touch to the display. I'm always impressed the way you work hard at making new things and promoting your stuff enthusiastically. -Reifyn

Cheers. We're still finding our feet when it comes to shows as this was only our second. Next year we hope to do more. Ideally I'd like to have a stand with just OSR publications but that wouldn't pay its way. So I guess it's just a case of finding additional 'cash cow' items to sell alongside them. Miniatures seem to be the way to go. The table cloths are just sheets that we got years ago for a few pounds each. I should have cleared the shelves of them.

Those same type of sheets on this side of the pond cost about 10 ponds a sheet--you got a good deal. I think you're right about minis, which still seem super-popular: the most successful kickstarters in gaming seem to be minis and weird dice for some reason. I suppose on an individual basis, they are the cheapest gaming items nowadays. Although anything you seem to try gets funded (at least that I've seen); so you're lucky with that.

I mean 10 POUNDS a sheet! 10 ponds would be hard to come up with. Unless it''s a Dr Who character with lots of extended family, but I think they'd resent being traded for sheets, even if they're nice ones.

Speaking of minis the new Reaper Kickstarter is up. I count myself as being very lucky with my crowdfunding projects. It's a bit tough being in the UK as the cost of postage means I miss out on a lot of US backers. However, if the goals are modest even the most niche project stands a chance of funding.